18 pages • 36-minute read
This Morning I Pray for My Enemies
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Themes
Answering One’s Own Internal Questions
The opening line of “This Morning I Pray for My Enemies” is a question seemingly posed from the speaker to themselves. This rhetorical line continues throughout the poem; indeed, the conclusion circles back to give the speaker some kind of answer to their initial pondering. The structure of the poem creates a thematic underpinning in which the reader can think about the possibility of wrestling with and resolving their own internal questions (as noted in the Authorial Context Analysis section). In other words, by considering Harjo’s speaker figuring out their thoughts on a deep philosophical question, readers can learn more about how to personally engage in such a practice.
Harjo’s choice of posing and partially answering a question within the same poem reveals a vital tension of human experience: The speaker is caught between their heart and mind. This is a familiar occasion to most all people. In some ways, the poem is intentionally highlighting how difficult it is for any person to truly know themselves. By referencing the heart as the “smaller cousin of the sun” (Line 5) Harjo’s speaker reminds readers that reaching the heart, like reaching the sun, is an impossibility. The posing of the initial question and the subsequent line of philosophical reasoning by Harjo’s speaker all help to create a sense that the poem is less about one’s enemies and more about understanding oneself.
The Heart Versus the Mind
Exploring the connection between the more tangible emotional and more ethereal philosophical is a common thread in Harjo’s poetry; “This Morning” is no exception. The most specific example of this in the poem is Harjo’s descriptions of the speaker’s relationship with their heart and mind. By the end of the poem, through subtle but effective personification, the heart is akin to a character alongside the speaker and their perceived enemies. The heart has two roles to serve for Harjo’s speaker: First, the heart is what is “ask[ing] the question” (Line 4), and second, the heart is the part of the speaker capable of “open[ing]” (Line 8).
If the mind is the storage of violent emotions—rage and fury, as referenced in Line 4—then the heart is the opposite. Thematically, the role of the heart in “My Enemies” is as a mediator: “It sees and knows everything” (Line 6) and ultimately should be the guide in terms of what the speaker should do. This is antithetical to how the heart is typically viewed in American society and culture; emotions are viewed as unreliable, and people are largely taught to rely on their thinking rather than how they feel. The speaker’s “furious mind” (Line 4) is uninterested in who the speaker may call an enemy and “it’s the heart that asks the question” (Line 4). In the poetic world of “This Morning,” Harjo positions the heart as the most responsible aspect of the speaker’s life. The heart is like the sun: fixed, unmoving, constant. The heart should be both listened to and trusted when making important decisions.
Not only is the heart positioned as the most reliable part of the speaker, but it is also given great power in terms of actions. The heart contains the tension of all of the competing feelings the speaker is holding, both the “gnashing” and the “blessing” (Line 7). Through its ability to contain complex ideas and feelings, the heart is therefore positioned as the only thing that should “open” (Line 8) the mind. The speaker must, thus, rely on their heart not just for interpreting the world around them, but for deciding how to enter into relationships—with enemies or with friends—and for determining what to make of these relations.
Engaging With Enemies
One of the central themes of Harjo’s poem is how to deal with one’s enemies. The title, which is almost instructive, describes the basic action of praying for one’s enemies, yet the poem moves quickly away from this separated stance and into the speaker questioning which enemies are worth “engagement” (Line 2). The repetition of enemy through the title and first two lines forefronts the urgency of the issue: Harjo’s speaker must resolve how to deal with their feelings towards these enemies and settle the relationship.
A few key word choices throughout the poem illustrate how Harjo would like readers to rethink how they engage with perceived enemies. Toward the conclusion, Harjo describes how the heart hears both “gnashing” and “blessing” (Line 7). The gnashing seems clear: Harjo’s speaker is feeling “furious” (Line 4) toward their enemies and gnashing typically refers to the way a person might grind or grit their teeth in anger. The blessing, though perhaps slightly less explicit, likely calls back the title of the poem as the speaker is praying—offering a blessing—for their enemies. Here, Harjo centers on the true issue of a relationship with someone perceived to be an enemy: There could be a blessing in resolving the relationship and perhaps this is why the speaker is praying in the first place. This is confirmed in the final line, which describes the “danger” (Line 9) of an enemy getting close enough to be a friend. To whom does this danger actually refer? Perhaps it is a danger to the enemy who might not want to be friends with the speaker. By choosing to engage with one’s enemies, a person naturally runs the risk of developing a relationship beyond anger—one that could potentially even evolve into a friendship.
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